Countdown
by emotional-static
Summary: The clock is ticking on Carter and Abby's relationship. When Carter takes off for Africa to rescue Luka, what happens when Abby follows him to the Congo? Ch. 8: Carter & Abby rebuild their relationship; Abby gets a disturbing phone call from her mother.
1. In the Doghouse

COUNTDOWN 

"You turned out to be more than I bargained for

And I can tell that you need to get away

Forgive me if I admit that I'd love to love you

We both realized it way too late…"

The clock is ticking on Carter and Abby's relationship as coworkers and now, friends. When Carter takes off for Africa to rescue Luka, what happens when Abby follows him to the Congo? Set during 10.1, 'Now What?'. Potential Carby.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the ER characters. No infringement intended. Just borrowing.

A/N: Yes, I am a Carby fan, but not as much as I used to be. I was just generally annoyed with them towards the very end of last season and the beginning of this season. I do like Abby's character much better now in Season 10 then I did in Season 9, though and that will be reflected in this fic. I don't really know where this story came from, but it starts during episode 10.01 of season 10, "Now What?". Basically an alternate take on what happens when Carter returns from the Congo the first time. 

Reviews are much appreciated!

xo; Mari

* * *

Carter hesitated, placing his hand on the doorknob of Abby's bedroom. His plane had landed at O'Hare two hours before—delayed because of the stormy Chicago weather. And without hesitation, he had headed straight back to the person who he had left behind to find himself. _Find himself_. Here he was, six months short of his thirty-fifth birthday, trying to figure out what was supposed to become of his life by leaving his girlfriend of almost a year behind without a good reason. Didn't this sort of thing happen in a person's early twenties? Carter remembered vaguely how he had avoided Abby, first telling her that he wasn't planning on joining Luka in Africa, but then weeks later, coincidentally bumping into her and spilling the news. That led into a heated argument with both parties separating on a bad note. A bad note that whether or not Abby would believe, ended up staying on Carter's mind for the two weeks he was in the Congo. 

Who was he kidding, really? He **knew** Abby. She was more than upset with him right now. Their relationship had been falling apart, perhaps willingly, long since he had left for Africa. The matter now was, could it be saved, and did they both want it to be?

Letting out a long sigh, Carter pushed open the bedroom door. It gave way with a little creak, and immediately he saw Abby. She was asleep on her side, the sheets bunched around her shoulders. The moonlight was flooding through the window, catching her hair in a soft glow as it fanned around the pillow. She looked peaceful but worried even in her sleep. 

He sat down on the edge of her bed and raised his hand, running it gently down her side. He had missed this—had missed her, even through all of their problems, her problems, his problems. He had told Maggie once that he could spend twenty three out of twenty four hours thinking about the reasons why they were completely wrong for each other, baggage included. But in that twenty fourth hour, everything he thought about her just wanted to make him love her more.

Now he had to know. He had come here for a reason, and whatever the outcome, good or bad, he'd take it and move from there. He hadn't showered in over two days. He was exhausted. He was hungry. But he had to know what they were before he could and do any of that. With that, Carter leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Abby's forehead. He almost held his breath when her brown eyes fluttered opened and she glanced at him groggily. This was it. It was a win or lose situation, and he couldn't run from it anymore.

"Hi." The words had left his mouth mechanically, as if he had planned on saying them all along.

"Hi," Abby whispered back. She sat up in the bed and gathered the loose sheets around her, not quite awake yet. "When…did you get back?" She broke their gaze and opened her nightstand drawer, pulling out a cigarette and lighter. She lit it and inhaled quickly, sliding the cigarette in between her slim fingers. 

"Just now," Carter answered, just watching her. 

Abby turned her head to the side and glanced at her illuminated alarm clock. "It's five thirty in the morning."

He nodded and looked at the bedspread. "My flight was delayed because of the storm." Carter watched her take another drag of her cigarette and tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I…missed you."

She blinked at him, almost as if she had no recollection of what those words meant at all, but Carter saw her half nod. "Did you just let yourself in?"

He didn't know what to say. He had been right about one thing, though. She wasn't going to let him off the hook easily. "I'm sorry about how I left. I didn't--."

Abby said nothing. Instead she crushed out her cigarette in the ashtray and got out of the bed, clad in a tank top and pajama bottoms. "You didn't think, right?"

Now it was Carter's turn to say nothing. "I'm sorry."

She brushed past him and walked out into the hall. Carter got up off of the bed and followed her, not sure if this was what she wanted him to do, or the right thing to do. He was a little stunned when he realized what she **was** doing. Abby was pulling a spare blanket and pillow out of the linen closet. "You can sleep on the couch, if you want. Or you can leave. That's fine too."

"…Can I stay?"

She nodded and walked into the living room, where she removed the large throw pillows and started making up the couch into a temporary bed. She tried turning on the lamp, and silently cursed. A crack of thunder emitted over the building, and Abby heard the whir of the refrigerator stop. The power had gone out.

"Power's out," Carter stated. "Do you have a shift tomorrow?"

Abby nodded slowly. "Ten to ten."

Carter felt his way over to the couch and sat down to take off his shoes. "Can we get something to eat in the morning? Just so we can talk? Or, I can make breakfast."

"You don't have to do me any favors," she replied softly. "But if you want to, we can. I'm sure you'll be tired though. You might want to just sleep."

He was getting the hint that Abby didn't want to discuss anything with him—that she was trying to avoid the topic. "I'm okay. I slept a lot on the plane."

"Okay. Well…if you need anything, you know where it all is. Take a shower."

"Why, do I smell?" Carter cracked. Okay, potentially a lethal time for a joke, but he had to try. He saw Abby's eyes light up, almost as if she wanted to smile but didn't want to forgive him that quickly.

"No, but you look like hell." Abby started backing out of the room carefully, so as not to collide with anything in the dark. "Goodnight. Good morning. Whatever."

"Night Abby." Carter watched her retreat back into her bedroom, where the door softly closed, only left open a crack. He stretched out onto the couch, trying to find a comfortable position. Although he had a lot on his mind, he quickly fell asleep, not even bothering to move the blanket over himself. 

He was definitely in the doghouse. But had he really expected any better?

* * *

Short, but it is sort of a prologue/starter. Continuation will depend on reviews, I think. Let me know what you think. =] 

Opening lyrics credited to Michelle Branch.


	2. Not Rio

Thanks so much for the reviews: forever-buffy and her ang, SalsaDevil, Carby6, Maven, nikki, Chicago, Sci Fi Fan Gillian, lolomo, ER-Carby-Luva, Proffy, Kim, and Fair Cate! You guys are great, thanks again.

I'd like to know what you all think, so keep reviewing. =]

* * *

_May 20th, 2003_

Abby woke with a start later that morning to the sound of the garbage truck outside. Perfect. The sun was practically blinding her through the window as she rolled over. Her clock was blinking, so the power had come back on sometime during the night. Not bothering to reset the clock, she glanced at her watch on the nightstand. Eight o' clock. Two hours to kill until her shift, and she could definitely use a shower.

Taking one look in the mirror over her dresser, she winced and pulled her hair back before grabbing everything she would need for her shower, along with a clean pair of scrubs. Yawning again, Abby knew that she was better off starting the coffee pot before she showered because without a doubt, she'd need at least four cups of coffee to help her deal with Carter and County General.

Quietly, Abby walked into the living room. If she didn't see Carter sprawled out on her couch, sound asleep with his mouth partly open, she would have thought he would have taken off by now, back to Gamma's mansion.

"Bullshit," she muttered under her breath as she picked up the blanket and spread it out over his body. Carter stirred somewhat, but didn't make any intention of waking up. Not now, at least. "You were tired." Abby thought back on how John had told her that he wasn't tired because he had slept on the plane before walking into the kitchen to start the coffee pot.

Minutes later, she had started the shower and had turned on her waterproof radio. Abby didn't totally understand the purpose of needing it, and only after her brother had given it to her one year for a gift had she liked having it around. It was pretty convenient since she took long enough showers after her shifts.

_Every time we lie awake_

_After every hit we take_

_Every feeling that I get_

_But I haven't missed you yet_

Abby grabbed the shampoo and started lathering her hair, wincing as the lyrics of the next song started to play. Even though she wasn't too familiar with the song, it reminded Abby of her and Carter's relationship and what they had gone through.

_Every roommate kept awake_

_By every sigh and scream we make_

_All the feelings that I get_

_But I still don't miss you yet_

Carter would probably be up soon, and she couldn't just walk around her apartment and ignore him while she got ready for work. Okay yes, technically she could, but Abby knew they had left on bad terms, and wasn't about to let him get away again. They had to talk everything through, and if they couldn't do it today, they'd have to really sit down and let everything out sometime soon.

_Only when I stop to think about it_

_I hate everything about you_

_Why do I love you?_

_You hate everything about me_

_Why do you love me?_

Abby turned off the radio before rinsing the shampoo out of her hair. She didn't need some song trying to act as a form of therapy right now. She needed to know where she and John were supposed to go from here, but she had no idea, and was pretty sure that neither did he. Again, another problem. Shutting off the now lukewarm water, Abby quickly toweled off before pulling her robe on. She managed to wring most of the water out of her long brown hair before pinning it up with a clip. She desperately needed that coffee.

Abby walked into the living room again. Carter was still asleep. She tiptoed around him carefully and turned the television on with the remote to check the weather. Upper sixties, partly cloudy with a chance of showers.

"Hey," Carter spoke up groggily. "What time is it?"

"Almost eight thirty. How'd you sleep?" Abby turned the volume up on the television and started trying to catch the news report—not that she cared too much, but because she didn't really want to force any conversation with Carter right now.

"Okay. Good. You?"

"Okay."

"I just made coffee, and I haven't gone food shopping in a week, so good luck with finding something edible that's not sprouting mold by now," Abby cracked. "I just took a shower so you might want to let the water get a chance to heat up again before you get in there."

"You didn't ask me to join you?" he yawned, sitting up on the couch and stretching his arms.

Abby looked the other way towards the kitchen. "You were sleeping and for the record, I think we have other issues to work on before we start showering together again. Or sleeping together, or doing anything people in a relationship do. If we still have a relationship," she shot back. Once she got into the kitchen, she grabbed a clean mug off of the rack and poured herself coffee.

Carter followed her, running his fingers through his dishelved hair. As much as he wanted to blow up at her right now and put her in her place and explain his side of the story, he didn't want to walk away like that. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"No, you really shouldn't have." Abby sat down at the kitchen table and watched as Carter helped himself to his own mug of coffee.

Carter sat down across from her. "I don't know what you want me to say. I can apologize time after time and you'd still be pissed off at me so…I really don't know what else to do."

"Neither do I," Abby sighed. "I missed you, you know? And I thought that you ran away because of me, because of our problems, because it wasn't working." She was not going to cry over this, but could feel the tears building up in the back of her eyes and the lump forming in her throat. "I know that was true—you ran because of everything going on. Because of Gamma, because of our fucked up relationship, my problems, my family, the proposal, everything. Africa was your way out—I understand that. I'm sorry. Maybe I should be the one apologizing. I don't know what to do. I don't know if we should stay together, or stay apart. I don't know what the right thing is, John. You tell me. Help me out a little bit here. I want to make this work, but I don't know if we can fix everything."

"I came back," Carter tried to explain. "If I didn't think this—**us**—wasn't fixable, I would have went straight home. But I came here. I want to work things out. I love you."

"Do you really?" She stood up from the table and set her mug in the sink, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.

Carter stood up and tried walking towards her. "Don't cry."

"I'm not," Abby replied stubbornly. "It's allergies."

"You're a bad liar."

She shrugged. "I know."

"Look, Abby—"

She shook her head. "Go take a shower, okay? I'll drop you off at the mansion."

"I'm coming into work tomorrow."

"I know."

"Abby…" Carter sighed and placed his own mug in the sink. "Don't do this."

_"It's not Rio…but it's not here."_

"Go take a shower, John."

* * *

The following morning, Abby attempted to track down Susan somewhere in the hospital. Jerry had pointed towards the bathroom, so she knocked quickly and leaned up against the wall. Surprisingly, not only did Susan come out of the bathroom, but so did Chuck, her ex husband.

Abby crossed her arms over her chest with a smile and turned to Susan when Chuck was out of earshot. "I thought you two were divorced."

Susan blushed. "We are."

"Carter's back," Abby added softly. "He tried to apologize yesterday morning."

Susan winced as they headed closer towards admit. "Oh no, did he screw it up? Why do they even bother?"

"No, he didn't really screw it up. He sounded pretty sincere about it, I guess. I just, I don't know. I don't know where we are."

"Dr. Lewis, you got yourself another TWA," Frank pointed out obnoxiously, pointing to a new third year medical student of Indian descent.

"We'll talk about this later?" Susan half smiled. "Hi, I'm Dr. Susan Lewis."

_"Neela Rasgotra."_

"Yep," Abby agreed, grabbing a chart and heading off to curtain one.

* * *

It wasn't until Carter had entered the makeshift lounge before his shift that he noticed that white plastic bag hanging from the handle of his locker. Grabbing it carefully, he sat down with it at the table and pulled out two photos. He remembered they had been taken one night when he and Abby had gone out to dinner with Eric and his fiancée. Happier times. If he asked Abby to dinner right now, would she even go with him?

They weren't solving anything by avoiding each other. After going home to the mansion the day before, Carter hadn't bothered calling Abby. He knew that she probably didn't want to speak with him, and didn't want to give it a try to annoy her even more. He stood up from the table and placed the pictures back in the bag, hanging it back on the handle before heading into admit.

"Carter, your grandmother's goddamn estate lawyer had called you every damn day that you were in Africa. I'm not your secretary. Do me a favor and call the guy back, okay? This is an ER, not 411," Frank muttered crankily while Carter walked back, heading for the trauma room.

"Nice to see you too, Frank," Carter said over his shoulder.

Susan looked up once Carter walked through the double doors. "Hey you. How was Africa?"

He shrugged. "It was great."

"Good to hear. Head on next door and see if Abby needs any help over there for me, will you?"

Not really the place he wanted to go right now, but he nodded. "Sure thing. Catch you later?"

"I'm not going anywhere," she smiled before Carter disappeared from the room. "What's going on here?"

Abby looked a little startled to see him come into the room just like that, but quickly regained her composure. "We need traction."

Carter nodded. "I found your present hanging on my locker. Subtle. Very subtle."

"Glad to know you appreciate something besides yourself, then," Abby spat back. She turned back to the patient with a smile. "We're going to get you set up, okay Hannah?"

"She's crashing." Carter ignored Abby's comments and instead went straight into doctor mode.

"Think her T-waves look peaked?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

"V-tach."

"Charge to 250."

"Clear." When there was no response, Abby sighed. "Her T-waves are peaked," she pointed out smugly. "She's still crashing."

"Charge to 300."

"You should've just listened to me."

"Can we just do this later?" Carter snapped. "Give me the paddles."

"Fine. Clear!"

Carter noted normal sinus rhythm and shot a look at Abby. "She looks okay. Call me if you need me."

"I won't."

* * *

"Hey, Abby!"

Abby turned around and almost bumped straight into Susan. "Hey."

"Sorry about before. It got a little hectic around here. This place is a mess with all the construction."

"Don't worry about it."

"So have you talked to Carter? Things looked a little tense in trauma there."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Not really. We kind of tried insulting each other. Didn't really work."

Susan sighed. "He came straight from the airport to your place, Abby. That's got to tell you something."

Abby nodded. "Yeah, what? That he's horny?"

"Come on, Abby!" Susan laughed. "Or that he really missed you and felt badly about leaving you that way. Tell me you don't see his reasoning behind this."

"Maybe I don't. He's Carter. He's kind of complex."

"So are you."

Abby smiled. "Hey, whose side are you on?"

"Give him a chance to make up for it." Susan grabbed onto Abby's arm and led her away from admit. "Sorry, I have to pee." Abby followed Susan and towards the women's restroom, which was out of order.

"He shows up acting like he never went away and acts like he wasn't a jerk for leaving like that!" Abby told her. Susan pushed open the door to the men's restroom and headed for the stall. Malik and Frank shook their heads in surprise as Abby leaned against the sinks. "Make up for it how?"

"Flowers, a nice dinner. If you're really mad, jewelry. Give him a chance."

"I could use a new transmission for my car," Abby joked.

"You're a real romantic, Abby, you know that?" Susan told her, coming out of the stall and starting to wash her hands in the sink. She grabbed a paper towel and headed out of the bathroom with Abby at her side. "Haven't you punished him enough today?"

She shook her head. "It's not about punishing him."

Susan sighed. "Just give him the chance. You won't regret it." They had reached admit by now. Abby and Susan gathered around Jerry and Frank, who were trying to figure out the mixed phone lines due to the construction.

"Carter, you grandmother's lawyer is stopping by here to see you with some paperwork! Get rid of him, for the love of…Dr. Romano," Frank muttered under his breath.

"That's a lot of love," Susan said with a smile. She noticed how close Carter and Abby were now, both sorting through charts. "Abby, do it," she whispered.

Carter looked up at this, but quickly dropped his eyes back down.

"No," Abby whispered. "Forget it."

Carter glanced at her quickly and headed for the other side of admit, where he bumped into her as she tried to get away from the desk. "Hey."

"Hey," Abby replied.

"Uh, are you busy?"

She shook her head. "Not really. You?"

"No. Want to grab a cup of coffee?"

"Okay."

Susan gave Abby a smile. "Go girl," she whispered as Carter and Abby headed away from admit.

* * *

"How was it?"

Carter took a sip of his coffee and placed his free hand in his pockets as they walked down the street. "It was incredible…and terrible. The hospitals are understaffed and undersupplied. There's so much death and dying, and yet it's a beautiful country. It really makes you appreciate what we have here, with the modern medicine."

"Yeah," Abby agreed.

"It was a life changing experience. I just…don't know how yet."

They crossed a busy intersection and found themselves heading back towards County. "Where's Luka?" she questioned, glancing sideways at Carter.

"Is that what this is about?" he scowled, tossing his cup into a trashcan.

"No."

"Luka's fine. Luka's more than fine," Carter pointed out.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing at all."

She sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Do you know that we don't talk?" Abby didn't wait for Carter to respond before continuing. "Your mouth is moving and you give the impression of having a real conversation, but when you finish I have no idea what you're thinking."

"I'm just trying to tell you about Africa," Carter shot back. "Why do you have to blow everything out of proportion? I said I was sorry. I told you I missed you. What else do you want from me?"

"Don't you get it? You knew I didn't want you to go, and you went anyway!" Abby shouted at him. "What were you trying to do? Hurt me?"

"Here we go again. We're in the same exact place where we left off. Me, me, me. Abby, Abby, Abby. It's not always all about you!"

"No John, if I hadn't run into you that day, you would have taken off without telling me!" Abby stated, upset. "I would have heard if from Frank, probably! Not even from my own boyfriend!"

"I wasn't trying to hurt you. I just wanted something different, and I had that, and now I'm back."

"Did you think about me?" she questioned softly, almost afraid of the answer.

"Yes," Carter answered sincerely.

"What did you think?" He didn't answer. "What did you think?" There was no response. "I don't even know why you bothered coming back," she added bitterly. Quickly, Abby wrapped her arms around her chest and headed back towards the hospital.

"Oh, you're running away?" Carter shouted after her.

Abby spun around and nodded. "Yes!"

"Fine, walk away, it's what you do best!"

She paused and started walking back towards him. "Want to know what you do best? You make this all about **my** problems. You have some problems too."

"That's mature, Abby. You haven't changed at all," Carter said smartly, shaking his head in disgust. "Maybe I shouldn't have come back! I should have stayed. I knew I would have to deal with this when I got back, and I'm so tired of it—"

But Abby was no longer listening to him. Chuny had appeared and was speaking to her in a low tone, and Abby covered her mouth. "What?" she questioned Chuny loudly. Abby walked over to John. "There was a phone call. Luka…Luka's dead."

"What?"

"I don't know." Abby shook her head, and Carter pulled her into his arms.

"Come on," he replied softly. "Let's find something out."

* * *

"Zagreb. No, that's in Croatia. Can I have that number then? Thank you."

Abby walked into the lounge and walked over to the table. Carter glanced up at her and gave her a sad look while jotting down a number on a piece of paper. He hung up the phone and sighed.

"What are you doing?" she spoke up.

"Trying to get a hold of Luka's relatives in Zagreb. Shit, I just remembered that the Alliance would have all of Luka's contact information. I have to go back to the Congo." Shakily, Carter started stacking medical supplies in a small sized duffel bag as Abby stared on in disbelief.

"Wait, you're going back there? Why?" she asked in shock.

"Because I left him there," Carter answered. He really wasn't trying to lose his temper with her. Not now. "I should've stayed." He finished packing the duffel and grabbed his jacket from his locker, rushing down the halls.

"John—"

"Abby, I have to go."

"Please don't go. Not until it's safer there," Abby begged him. They were now standing in the middle of the ambulance bay, having made it out of the ER quickly.

"I can't leave him!" he shouted at her. "Don't you understand that?"

"I do understand that! Stay! I can't keep doing this," Abby called after him.

"I'll call you from Paris." He slowed down a little, only turning back to glance over his shoulder at her.

Abby didn't know what to do. She could follow him and resolve whatever was left of their relationship, or she could let him leave her again and call it quits. For once in her life, she wasn't torn and was able to make a quick decision. "Wait! Carter! Dammit!" She broke into a run down the sidewalk.

Carter paused at the intersection, watching her in disbelief. Was she trying to convince him to stay, or about to come with him? "I can't stay. I have to go."

"Then let me go with you."

"What?"

"I'm coming with you."

"Weaver will have your head if you leave without telling her," he warned.

Abby half smiled. "She already has yours."

Carter nodded. "We'll go to your place first. Pack light. I'll call the airline on the El."

* * *

Review!

"(I Hate) Everything About You" by Three Days Grace.


	3. Nothing's Changed

Thanks for all the reviews! They've been wonderful.

* * *

"You okay?"

Abby looked over at Carter. "Fine."

Actually, she was far from it. Abby was terrified of flying over ground, and absolutely petrified of flying over water. When the flight attendant had announced minutes before to shut off all cell phones and electronic devices because the boarding door had been shut, she practically wanted to run to the cockpit and beg to be let off the plane. Once Carter had placed their duffel bags up in the overhead compartment and sat down next to her, Abby had started to feel a little less terrified.

Once they had gotten on the El earlier in the day, Carter had called the airline and reserved two tickets on a 6:20 flight to Paris. Abby begged him to let her pay him back for her ticket, but he wasn't hearing any of it. He had just dropped over two thousand dollars for two round trip tickets—to France alone. She had no idea what the cost would be to fly to the Congo, but Carter told her not to worry about it, that his bank account would take care of it. Sometimes it really irked Abby how much money John seemed to have and the way he could pay for virtually almost anything he wanted, but she had gotten used to it over the course of their relationship and found out that he rarely spent more than he had to on every day things. Of course, two thousand dollars for two last minute seats on an overseas flight wasn't an ordinary every day thing, but whatever.

Once Carter had gotten off the phone with the airline, he had called County and explained the situation to her, covering Abby a hundred percent along the way. Kerry seemed to buy the story and wished them luck, but most importantly, told them to also take care of themselves.

Abby was lucky she still had an old passport lying around in her drawer. She had gotten it years ago, when she had traveled to London with Richard before they had been divorced. It had been renewed a year beforehand, and quickly she tucked it into her bag before packing her duffel bag.

"You don't like to fly, do you?"

She shook her head quickly. "No."

He grinned at her. "It's an eight hour and ten minute flight."

"You're the doctor here. Give me something to knock me out so I don't have to see us takeoff." Abby rested her head against the back of the seat and stared out the small plane window.

"Do you get motion sickness?"

She shrugged. "Not really, but sometimes."

"I have Dramamine in my bag so let me know if you need it, okay?" Carter glanced at her, concerned. Abby was really starting to look a little pale. "You don't look so good." He gently grabbed her wrist.

Abby jerked her arm away with a smile. "Did you just try to take my pulse?"

He laughed. "You looked pale."

"I'm okay, John. It's a flight. I'll deal with it. It's not going to send me off to the morgue or anything."

"Okay good."

Abby closed her eyes just as the flight attendants started going through the takeoff procedures. Before she knew it, they were slowly taxiing out onto the main runway.

Carter looked down at Abby's hand. She was practically gripping the armrest so hard her knuckles were turning white. "I didn't know you were this bad of a flyer."

"We're taking off now, aren't we?"

He nodded. "That's usually what happens after we line up with the runway."

She smiled and looked out the window. "Don't be such a jerk."

"I'm not," Carter laughed at her. "Ready?"

"You're not supposed to warn me about it. Then I have time to panic. Thanks a lot." Abby tightly shut her eyes as they completely lined up with the runway.

Carter slowly reached his hand out and linked Abby's fingers with his own. He squeezed her hand gently and she opened her eyes as the plane headed down the runway at top speed. "We're halfway there."

"I know." The plane lifted up and off the ground as Abby tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I feel like a little kid, being talked through takeoff. Except I'm not excited, I'm scared," she laughed.

"Glad to know I'm good for something."

"John Truman Carter, plane therapist extraordinaire. Don't quit your day job."

* * *

_May 22nd_

"Abby." Carter rubbed her shoulder gently. "Abby, wake up. We landed."

Abby lifted her head sleepily off Carter's shoulder and pulled the thin blanket off of her body. "I slept through it?"

He nodded. "Yeah. We're in Kinshasa."

"That was quick."

"I think the Dramamine knocked you out pretty fast," he joked as he stood up and collected their duffel bags from the overhead compartment.

"I'm pretty groggy."

"You will be for awhile."

She slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and stumbled out into the aisle after him, almost losing her balance. He quickly grabbed her around the waist and steadied her.

"Careful," Carter warned her.

"Thanks," Abby mumbled, still half asleep. She felt terrible. They had landed in Paris the day before, and the only flight heading from Paris to Kinshasa was leaving at six AM the following morning—today. Carter had booked the tickets, managed to hail a cab, and gotten them a room at a decent hotel not far from the Eiffel Tower itself. For Abby's first time in Paris, it wasn't that bad. She found herself having a good time just joking around with Carter and enjoying the sights—like they had used to be able to do when they were still on friendly, semi good terms with each other. Their fight hadn't been brought up, and Abby knew that they were both avoiding the topic, but figured that for now it was just best to let things go for a little while. After they had checked in at the hotel, John had taken her out to eat at a small café, and then they returned to the hotel for the rest of the night. He had ordered in some romantic comedy on the hotel's pay per view station, and although Abby had tried to stay awake for most of it, she was incredibly jet lagged. She was asleep within twenty minutes of the movie starting, and so was Carter. They had ended up sharing a bed, but neither one seemed to mind and didn't force any of their relationship issues that night.

It wasn't until about an hour into takeoff when Abby started feeling really nauseous. Their plane had been going through heavy turbulence for about ten minutes, and with each bump or drop, Abby's stomach would flip flop. She managed to make it to the bathroom twice with Carter's help, but didn't feel any better until her gave her the Dramamine, which had helped her fall asleep for the rest of the flight.

Sighing, she slung her own duffel bag over her shoulder and followed Carter down the narrow aisle towards the stairs that would lead them onto the tarmac. Once Carter started descending the stairs, Abby felt a hot blast of air hit her. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt such intense heat. It was like a Chicago heat wave multiplied by three.

By now, they had reached the bottom of the stairs and were trudging across the tarmac. Abby lifted her hair off the back of her neck, which was already sticky with sweat. Now she was groggy, nauseous, and sweaty. A lovely combination when you're an ocean and several thousand miles away from home.

Carter glanced over at her through his aviator shades and smiled slightly. "You okay? You'll get used to the heat."

Abby shook her head and pulled a cigarette out of her pack, lighting it quickly. She inhaled deeply and blew out the smoke. She did really need to quit, but it was a comfort thing to her, and she needed that comfort right now. "We'll see about that. Where do we have to go from here?"

"Through customs and then I'm supposed to be meeting Gillian and Charles in the main concourse."

She didn't bother with a response, but was thankful once they reached the cooler concourse. She crushed out her cigarette and tossed the butt in a garbage can, resting her other hand against her now pounding head. She was starting to feel worse, so once they had gotten through customs, she gripped John's arm in attempt to get him to stop walking.

"You okay?" He gripped her shoulders lightly and watched her shake her head.

"Not really. Can we sit down for a few minutes?"

He nodded and helped her over to a nearby area with chairs. She rested her head against the wall as he took her pulse quickly. "Any dizziness or nausea?"

Abby shook her head yes. "Yeah. It's not so bad right now."

Carter pulled out his half empty bottle of water and handed it to her, untwisting the cap. "Drink some of this and take a few deep breaths."

She sipped the water, handing the bottle back to him to pull her hair back up into a messy twist. "I'll be fine. It's not a big deal."

"I don't want you passing out from dehydration."

"I won't."

"Okay, I'm just saying—"

"John!" Abby shouted at him. "I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me anymore."

**Anymore**. The word struck Carter as something so final that he was almost having a hard time understanding it. Did she mean that just because their relationship was faltering on the edge of breaking up that Abby assumed that he would stop caring about her?

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you calling it?"

"Sure," Abby muttered sarcastically. "Time of death, four PM Kisangani time."

"Can we do this later?" Carter replied angrily. "Obviously I didn't know that I couldn't care about you anymore."

"Should have thought of that when you took off for the Congo the first time instead of running away."

He looked away and shook his head. "It's what you do best, isn't it? I guess I learned a few things from you when we were together."

"Glad to say I didn't pick up any of your conceited, wonderful habits."

"You know, it would have been a year for us the day we left? I was thinking about that on the plane," Carter added quietly. "Our relationship would have lasted a year."

Abby said nothing to this, but looked down at her feet instead.

"John!" 

Gillian and Charles quickly approached Carter and Abby. Carter stood up quickly and shook Charles' hand with a sad expression. Gillian hugged him tightly, softly crying into his shoulder. Uncomfortably, Abby looked on, trying to not draw any attention to herself. Maybe it was a bad idea for her to have followed John all the way here. Not only were they bringing themselves into a heavy situation with Luka's probable death, but also most likely they would fight the entire time. Abby certainly didn't speak the language and didn't know anyone else in the Congo besides John and Luka. She didn't know what to do.

"Charles, Gillian, this is my—" Carter stopped himself. He had almost referred to Abby as 'my girlfriend', but since he didn't know where they were, he wasn't about to irritate the subject. "This is Abby Lockkart. She's the ER charge nurse at County General."

Gillian politely shook Abby's hand. "Nice to meet you. You work with John then? And Luka?"

"Yes."

Charles quickly muttered a hello and shook Abby's hand as well. He then turned back to Carter, and the two began a deep discussion. Abby caught a few catch phrases about the situation and what happened to Luka's body. Whether or not the Red Cross located it, and the possibility of his body being kept in Kivu with others. She turned her head, wanting to block the conversation out, only to find tears streaming down Gillian's face silently as they headed out of the concourse and to an awaiting white jeep. Abby didn't say anything as she, Gillian, and Carter slid into the backseat, while Charles sat down in the passenger seat. Quickly the jeep pulled away, and Gillian and Abby both lit up cigarettes.

* * *

"We set aside a tent for you, John. We have an extra sleeping bag for Abby and a pillow." Charles motioned towards the medium sized green tent that was adjacent to other doctors and nurses throughout the area outside of the hospital. "I'm sorry we couldn't find out more information. I will try to find out more first thing in the morning and then we will go from there."

"I appreciate that," Carter replied. "We'll talk first thing."

"Of course. Well good night, then. Nice to meet you, Abby. We're glad to have your help around here."

"Thanks," Abby replied shortly. Carter lifted the flap of the tent for her and she hunched over to crawl inside. She had been jerked around from place to place all day, hoping desperately to find some information about Luka. They had located some personal belongings of his and his Alliance identification card, but other than that, they hadn't made much progress and would now have to wait until morning. She hoped to go that Luka was still alive, and also knew that nothing was certain until she saw his body for herself. She just had to be optimistic.

She quickly stripped off her jeans and tee shirt, replacing them with a pair of cotton sleep shorts and a tank top. Abby discarded her bra to the side of her bag and made sure her hair was pulled back. Looking over, she saw that Carter was changing as well. She was surprised to see him unzip the sleeping bag and spread it across the ground as a large blanket. He then tossed the two pillows on top and spread out the thin sheet on top. It was too hot to have anything else cover them.

"Do you feel any better?"

She looked up at him and nodded. "I'm just tired now."

"So am I."

Abby laid down on the sleeping bag and pulled the sheet over her body loosely. Turning onto her side, she watched as Carter did the same. "Well…good night then." She turned her back to him and quickly settled into a comfortable position.

"We can't go on and not talk about this. I need to know what you want. Do you want to stay together and work this thing out? Do you want to take a break? Do you want to see other people? Help me out here, Abby."

Abby turned onto her back and rested her hand on her head. "I don't know. We need to communicate better."

"I want to be in this for the long run, but we can't keep fighting. I want you to be able to talk to me about anything—about your family, Eric, everything. What do you want?"

"I want to be in this for the long run. We let it fall apart months ago," she replied quietly. "And I don't even know what I'm doing here. I came here for you, and all I want to do is figure out where we are. And if that means going back with a new start then okay. If not, then that's fine too. Can we talk about this tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Goodnight."

"Night," she yawned.

He sighed and turned onto his side as well. "Nothing's changed, Abby. I still feel the same way I did before I left the first time."

"Okay." Abby gritted her teeth. Did Carter really mean what he was saying? She just didn't want to deal with this right now--but at the same time she wanted to. Needed to deal with this again.

"We have to work some things out."

"Yeah. We do."

* * *

Review?


	4. Middle of Nowhere

A/N: The reviews were great! Sorry for the delay in this chapter, but I'm still here and will be updating as soon as I get all the words out. Thanks again. =] 

* * *

_May 23, 2003_

The next day, Abby awoke to an empty tent and a growling stomach. She didn't know what time it was or where Carter had run off to. She didn't even know where to find out more information about Luka. There was no way she could even communicate—she didn't know French or any other language that would be of use.

Before Abby could panic for too long, the flap of the tent opened and Carter crawled in with a cup in his hand.

"Morning," he greeted her. "Get dressed. Charles found a lead on Luka's whereabouts, so we have to head back to Kisangani to meet up with someone at the Alliance."

Abby cradled her head in her hands for a moment before throwing back the sheet and standing up. "What time is it?"

"A little after eight."

She bent over and started searching around for her clothes from the night before. "John, where the hell is my bra? Everything was—"

Carter dug around in their duffel bag and pulled it out, throwing it to her. "Sorry. I packed everything up. Never leave your personal effects lying around. Rule of thumb."

Quickly, Abby dressed and managed to pull her hair back in all of two minutes. "When do we leave?"

"We're just waiting on you. Charles and Gillian are waiting at the front of the hospital."

She slipped on her shoes and gave Carter a look. "You know, you could have woken me up sooner."

"And deal with that side of your personality? I think not," he chuckled with a grin. "You and I both know that you're not a morning person."

"Laugh it up some more," Abby grumbled. Carter gathered their belongings and slung the duffel bag over his shoulder while Abby did the same with hers. Finally, he handed her the cup he had been holding since she had woken up.

"Coffee for you. It's not the best, but it'll get you through the day."

"Thanks."

He lifted the tent flap for her. "Coming, sleeping beauty?"

"Shut up, John."

* * *

An hour later, Abby found herself waiting patiently on a bench next to Gillian. She leaned her head back against the wall and watched as Carter paced back and forth down the linoleum hall of the Alliance building. Charles had sent them ahead without him, as last minute he needed to take care of something at the hospital.

"How much longer?"

Gillian sighed and shook her head. "It's the Congo. Could be days," she replied. "Damn, I wish I had brought my cigarettes." Instead, she slumped against the wall and closed her eyes briefly.

Abby stared at the floor, but looked up when John rested a hand on her shoulder. "I hope they know something."

He nodded. "I know. Me too." Carter glanced over at Gillian and cleared his throat. "How are you feeling, Gillian?"

"Terrible." It was a one word answer, but it pretty much summed up how they were all feeling about the situation involving Luka.

Just then, a man quickly approached them. Gillian stood up with a smile and embraced him quickly as the man kissed both of her cheeks.

"John, Abby, this is Andre. He works with the Alliance."

Carter shook his hand while Abby simply nodded. "Nice to meet you."

"I believe you've all been waiting on me, so let's go and I'll tell you what I've managed to find out." Andre motioned for them to follow and led them into a medium size office at the end of the same hall. Inside there were two chairs in front of a desk. Abby and Gillian took the seats, while Carter stood off to the side of the desk.

Andre took a seat behind his desk and crossed his hands. "I don't have much to tell you, but what I can tell you is this. Nobody knows much more then that we, the Alliance, have made a deal with the Mai Mai to evacuate the living wounded noncombatants."

"Meaning what exactly?" Gillian spoke softly.

"Meaning that we have received a list of the known and presumed dead, along with their personal effects." Andre opened his bottom desk drawer and took out a pile of plastic baggies and placed them in the center of his desk. He started sorting through them, and paused quickly. He picked up the selected bag and handed it to Carter, who only stared at it. Gillian gasped and covered her mouth, tears springing to her eyes. Abby didn't know how to respond, so instead she closed her eyes and gripped Gillian's hand.

The bag contained Luka's Alliance identification card, tinged with dried blood. "I want his body back," Carter spoke suddenly.

"It is not that simple. You have to wait until the fighting stops."

Carter winced as he heard Gillian start to cry softly. He rested a hand on her back and quickly glanced at Abby, who would not meet his eyes. "How long? Days, weeks, months?"

"I don't know. It's not certain. There is a team in Kisangani that has been in negotiations with the Mai Mai."

"Debbie?" Gillian whispered hoarsely.

"Yes," Andre nodded. "You can also try Bob Chase at the American Embassy."

That was enough for Carter to hear. He shook Andre's hand. "Thank you for your help."

* * *

They hadn't gone far—just out onto a balcony that overlooked the courtyard of the Alliance building. All three were leaning up against the rail casually, trying to make sense of the situation and what to do next.

"Who is Debbie?" Carter asked suddenly, glancing over at Gillian.

"She's with the Red Cross field office in Kisangani. You'd like her. She's your type."

Abby looked away uncomfortably, taking advantage of the situation by pulling her hair out of the hair tie and redoing it quickly. Carter noticed this and tried to get Abby to meet his eyes, but she wouldn't. Apparently things were still very tense between them, and he was running out of ways to get them back on track with each other.

"I shouldn't have left him out there," Carter voiced, ignoring what Gillian had just said completely.

"He didn't want us to stay."

"Should've stayed anyway."

"Maybe you should have," Abby said softly with a shrug. Carter stared at her and wondered when the hell all this resentment towards him would end. Every time he had tried to explain, nothing worked, and they went on acting like anything but friends. It needed to stop, and Carter thought back briefly to the night before about what he had said regarding their relationship. He had told Abby that nothing had changed, but in reality, it had. He just didn't want to admit it to himself. Whether or not he would be able to fix the change or make something out of it was another story.

"If you stayed, then you'd be dead too."

* * *

The American Embassy hadn't given Carter much of lead to follow in an attempt to get Luka's body back. Abby felt like they were running in circles, and instead of finding someone that could point them in the right direction, Bob Chase had told them all that he recommended using money to buy Luka's body back from the Mai Mai. It angered her that they would have to end up paying the enemy who killed Luka in the first place in order to get anywhere in the damn country. Nobody knew anything, and towards late afternoon, hope was running dry and tempers were flaring up between all three of them.

So without a word, Abby and Gillian had reluctantly followed Carter to withdraw twenty thousand dollars at the bank in the Embassy. Abby stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the teller counting out the bills. Gillian seemed completely flustered at this, but Abby had been more accustomed to Carter's ways then she obviously had.

When the teller was done, Carter stuffed the envelope of money into his pants pocket, motioning to Abby and Gillian that they were ready to go now.

"You shouldn't carry that much money around here," Gillian warned him. "It's not wise."

"Oh, he knows," Abby shot back sarcastically. "But he'll do it anyway."

Carter glared at her and bit back the urge to say something in response. "Okay, Abby. I don't think the Mai Mai accept traveler's checks."

"I didn't know you could put that much money on a credit card," Gillian smiled. "C'est la vie."

* * *

It was heading towards dusk when Abby and Carter returned to their tent on the outskirts of the hospital. With Gillian's help, they had located Debbie at the Red Cross outpost. At first, she wasn't too keen on the idea of paying the Mai Mai to locate Luka's body, but she had found an alternate way to go about things. Debbie explained that right now she was negotiating to get into Kivu to rescue more of the wounded, and that they needed good doctors and nurses available to help. She explained that if Carter, Abby, and Gillian came along with her in the morning, there was a good chance they'd be able to find something else out about Luka and his whereabouts.

Abby sat down in the middle of the makeshift sleeping bag bed and continued eating the beef stew and leftover coffee for dinner while Carter quickly changed. "Do you want some of this? I can't finish all of it."

"In a minute." His tone was cold as he tossed his sweat soaked shirt to the side. Quickly, he pulled on another and kneeled down next to her. "Can I ask you what your problem is, though?"

She stared up at him and sighed, handing him the food before lying back down on the bed. "Nothing."

"Nothing sounded like something today when you had an attitude about everything and everywhere we had to go. Christ, Abby, you sound really self-centered, you know that? Luka could be dead, and you're worried about yourself."

She ignored him and turned onto her side, her back facing him. "I'm not."

"Whatever you say, Abby."

"God, can you stop!" she shouted out. "I'm so tired of your attitude, John."

"Then why did you even bother to come with me?"

"Because I wanted to work things out, and I cared about what happened to Luka! The last time we had relationship problems you ran away to find yourself!" Abby sat up stubbornly. "I want to work things out as much as you do, but by us sitting here ignoring each other and arguing, we're not getting anywhere. We could do this in Chicago."

"Abby…" Carter groaned. "Clue me in here. What are we doing? This silent treatment really isn't giving me much to go on anymore."

"I want to be with you. But you really hurt me when you left like you did, and I know I'm not a saint and we had problems. I had problems. You didn't want to deal with them anymore, and I didn't want to deal with what was going on between us. Maybe the time away helped us out when you went away the first time."

"I didn't run away from you," Carter spoke softly. "Not intentionally."

"But you still ran."

He sighed and set the empty bowl and coffee cup aside. "I know. I don't know how many times you want me to apologize for that, Abby. I'm sorry. I should have stayed. I was a real jerk and I don't blame you for not wanting to be with me anymore. Can we get past this, though?"

She thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "We can. It's just a matter of how. I don't want to completely start over again."

"Neither do I." She grabbed the coffee cup and drank some of it before continuing. "I called you worse things than a jerk when you were away. Just ask Susan."

"I will, first thing when we get back," he laughed.

"Okay."

Carter looked into Abby's eyes and suddenly leaned forward, cupping her face in his hands. He kissed her softly at first, waiting for her to pull away and protest. But she never did, and instead, Abby reciprocated the kiss and pulled herself onto Carter's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. They continued in that position for a few minutes, until Abby finally pulled away. She leaned back a little bit and looked away.

"I meant that," Carter explained quickly."

"I know. So did I."

"I guess it's safe to say that the spark is still there."

Abby rested her hand next to his and Carter linked their fingers together. "Did you know that everyone at County had a running bet on how long we would stay together? They thought that we were too different and too opinionated, that you—"

"Were a cocky bastard?"

She laughed and nodded. "And I was a nervous breakdown waiting to happen."

"We're not perfect, but we've made it this far," he noted. "And that's about all I can offer you."

"If you can accept my crazy family, I guess I could get used to living in a mansion."

Carter grinned and shrugged. "Hey, like I said before, I'd fit right in."

* * *

Reviews would be appreciated greatly!


	5. Back on Track

Thanks for all the great reviews! I promise that Carter and Abby will take the time out to work through their problems and that there will also be Carby coming up in the next chapters too.

* * *

Abby shielded her eyes and glanced over at Carter as the flatbed truck bounced along the African terrain. Inside the cab were Debbie and Gillian. They were heading towards Kivu as Debbie had promised the previous day. This made Abby a little nervous, as she didn't know what to except. What she did know was that the Mai Mai were fighting on the outskirts of the town.  
  
"You okay?" Carter asked her, stretching his arms over his head.  
  
She nodded slowly. "Yeah. Tired and hot, I guess."  
  
He reached over and pulled out a canteen, which he handed to her. "Here. Drink some of this. It's boiled, so it's safe. Hopefully."  
  
Abby smirked and lifted the canteen to her lips, taking a long swig. "Thanks. How much longer do you think?"  
  
"Not sure. A few miles at least."  
  
"Kivu's not safe, is it?"  
  
Carter shook his head. "No, it's not. But since we're with the Red Cross we have amnesty, and hopefully we won't have to stay there too long. Scared?"  
  
"Worried is more like it. It sounds dangerous."  
  
He reached over and took her hand in his. "Hey, it'll be okay. I won't let anything happen to you."  
  
"Thanks," she smiled. Abby pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her arms on top of them. Suddenly, the truck hit a deep rut in the path and sent Abby flying across the flatbed and into Carter's chest. She banged her head against his shoulder and winced.  
  
"Whoa. You okay?" he questioned, running his hand over the top of her head.  
  
She nodded. "Yeah. Didn't know your shoulder could be used as a weapon."  
  
"Neither did I," Carter laughed. He realized that Abby was now sitting in his lap and smiled. "I guess that was a sign that we're getting back on track."  
  
She slid off of his lap and instead resumed a position next to him. "Maybe." Abby rubbed at her head and sighed.  
  
Gillian opened the window that looked over the flatbed and stuck her head out. "You two okay back there?"

* * *

Towards dusk, Debbie, Gillian, Carter and Abby arrived at the clinic in Matenda. As Debbie parked the truck off to the side, Carter helped Abby jump down from the flatbed. They quickly joined Gillian by the front of the truck.  
  
Carter was amazed at the sight that lay before him. The clinic had been almost burned to the ground, and various pieces of it were lying scattered across the area. Several Mai Mai soldiers were patrolling the grounds, and they were sending malicious looks in their direction. Abby shakily pressed herself closer to Carter, and he liberally took her hand, squeezing it tightly.  
  
"You guys burned the clinic to the ground?" Carter shouted out at the soldiers. He kicked a piece of burned wood out of the way in anger. The guards looked onward, making no attempt to do or say anything. Abby trudged along next to him, worried that Carter's reaction would provoke the Mai Mai to attack.  
  
"John, stop," she whispered to him.  
  
Debbie and Gillian looked onward, while he continued his outburst. "You guys keep burning down hospitals, where you gonna go when you get shot? Huh? Where are you gonna go when your mothers get sick?"  
  
"John!"  
  
Charles appeared in front of a tent, and the group quickly charged towards them. Abby looked back over her shoulder at the Mai Mai and noticed they were glaring at their little group with disgust. She shuddered and allowed Carter to wrap his arm around her waist.  
  
"You've made it safely," Charles noted. "Do not provoke them, John. For our sake, do not." He lifted the flap and Abby covered her nose automatically when Carter walked inside, followed by Debbie and Gillian. The tent walls were stained with blood, which had also drained onto the floor. Carter noticed a single sandal lying in the middle of the room and bent down to pick it up, letting it dangle slowly from his fingers.  
  
"Many people died here," Charles continued sadly. "The bodies have been taken to Kasese. This soldier believes they are still there."  
  
Carter nodded and Abby looked away. "We have to go there, then." He stalked out of the tent with Debbie on his heels.  
  
"We're not going to Kivu, John. It's not safe."  
  
He shook his head. "We have to. I owe it to myself. If you don't want to go, give me the damn truck and I'll go myself."  
  
"They'll shoot you."  
  
"Then I'll let them!"  
  
"Look, it's ten miles from here. Luka's dead, John. He's dead. I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry. But I've gotten you this far, haven't I?" Debbie sassed back.  
  
"He has a point, Debbie," Gillian added softly. "We owe it to ourselves, to Luka. We need to find his body."  
  
"I'll return the vehicle by morning," Carter offered.  
  
"No!" Debbie shouted. "Don't make me regret bringing you here!"  
  
Carter looked over his shoulder and noticed Gillian and Abby assisting a group of women sitting by the side of the road. "Please."  
  
"There are people here that need our help, John. We'll discuss this later," Debbie voiced, hurrying off with Charles.  
  
Sighing, Carter trudged off to an opposite group of people. He started to assist and treat them as best he could with the limited supplies that Debbie had brought with her. As he moved on to a man holding his son, he realized suddenly that he had treated these people before. Not only that, but they had been with Luka in Matenda.  
  
"Gillian!" Carter shouted out. "Gillian!"  
  
Quickly, Gillian started running towards him, Abby on her heels. "What?"  
  
"They were with Luka in Matenda. Ask them if they know where he is. Ask them!"  
  
She started speaking rapid French with the man, and nodded a few times while Carter stood in place anxiously. "All he can tell me is that the Mai Mai came."

* * *

_9 PM_  
  
Carter adjusted the headphones of his iPod while brushing a stray piece of hair off of Abby's face. She had fallen asleep about half an hour ago, head resting in his lap, the rest of her body curled up against his body.  
  
"Hey." Debbie leaned casually against the wall and handed him a beer. "It's warm, tastes like formaldehyde, but it's wet."  
  
Carter shook his head and held up his own bottle. "No thanks. I already have one." He lifted the headphones off of his ears and draped them across his neck.  
  
"How long have you two been together?"  
  
He rested his head against the cooler wall and sighed. "It would have been a year this month."  
  
"Would have been?" Debbie questioned. "What happened?"  
  
"Things got complicated. We both ran away from each other when our problems got in the way without really solving anything. Then I took off for here without telling her."  
  
"Ouch. That must have put you in the doghouse."  
  
"It did," he agreed. "Big time."  
  
"She's pretty. You're a lucky guy."  
  
He nodded and ran his fingers over Abby's arm. "She's beautiful. I think the time apart made me realize that I'd do anything for her. I came close to proposing to her before I left. Rented out a whole restaurant. Had the ring. Just didn't go through with it."  
  
"Are you guys working everything out now? Is that why she came down here with you?"  
  
He nodded again. "She came down here for me, and because Luka's her friend just as much as he is mine. We're trying to work things out. I'd like to. I don't want to make the mistake I did before of letting her get away."  
  
"Do you love her?" Debbie asked, sinking down onto the ground next to him.  
  
"Yeah. I do love her."  
  
"Then everything will work out in the end."  
  
The conversation went silent for a few moments, with Carter and Debbie just sipping at their beers.  
  
"They just left him there in the jungle?" Debbie questioned, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear.  
  
Carter nodded. "Yeah. The Congolese are afraid to be found with the doctors." He motioned to the guard and sighed. "Do you ever wonder if they'll get bored and start shooting?"  
  
"I don't think about it," Debbie answered quickly. "And if I did, I doubt I'd ever be able to leave Seattle again."  
  
"I never knew how bad things were here before I arrived."  
  
Debbie nodded. "Nobody at home gives a damn what happens here."  
  
"There's no oil here. Millions are being slaughtered and we're too busy eating Happy Meals."  
  
She smiled slightly. "What exactly are you doing here? You don't seem the type."  
  
"What type am I supposed to be?"  
  
"Macho adrenaline junkies and save the world peace freaks."  
  
"Which one are you?" he laughed.  
  
Debbie shrugged. "Which one do you think?"  
  
"It's simpler here. People need help, and I can help them, "Carter explained slowly, changing the topic. "Sorry. It's late, I'm tired."  
  
"We'll take the truck to Kasese in the morning. Maybe we'll be able to learn something."  
  
Carter nodded. "Thank you."  
  
Debbie smiled before standing up. "You're welcome. Good night."  
  
Abby stirred slightly in his lap and opened her eyes groggily once Debbie had left. "How long have I been asleep?"  
  
"About an hour," he smiled down at her. "You were tired."  
  
"I guess I was." She sat up and yawned. "What have you been doing?"  
  
"Thinking. Come on, let's go to the tent and get some real sleep." He grabbed her hands and hoisted her up off the ground. Within minutes, they had reached their temporary tent and crawled inside. Neither bothered to undress, both knowing that they would be up early in the morning anyway.  
  
Abby looked about ready to collapse into sleep again when she crawled into the sleeping bag. Carter slid in next to her and wrapped his arms protectively around her shoulders. They hadn't done much talking today, but the body language said it all. Yes, they were both still willing to talk out their issues, but they knew that right now wasn't the time or place. Both were just comfortable in each other's presence and willing to try and get things back on track between them.  
  
"Goodnight, Abby," he said softly.  
  
She rested her head against his shoulder and laid one hand on his chest. "Night, John."

* * *

_May 25, 2003_  
  
By dawn, Carter, Abby, Gillian and Debbie were huddled together in the cab of the truck, with the latter driving them all towards Kasese. All necessary supplies and duffel bags were placed together in the back of the flatbed.  
  
"Damn, Gillian, how can you smoke this early?" Debbie questioned, obviously annoyed by the smoking in the tight cab space. Quickly, she rolled down the cab window some more while Carter smiled at Abby.  
  
"So why did you change your mind?" Carter questioned honestly.  
  
"Came a hell of a long way. Figured the least I could do is to help you with the last few miles."  
  
About an hour later, Debbie had pulled up to the town of Kasese and everyone climbed out of the cab. Abby had once again fallen asleep against Carter's shoulder and was a little out of it when they arrived.  
  
"What was this place?" Carter pointed to a burned building while holding Abby's hand at the same time.  
  
"A school, I think," Debbie answered back.  
  
Abby saw Gillian double over at the side of the road and start dry heaving. "Maybe we shouldn't."  
  
"We don't have to continue," Gillian told them. "We came far enough."  
  
Carter ignored both Gillian and Abby and instead treaded towards the door of the building. He opened the door and immediately gagged with Abby and Debbie by his side.  
  
"Oh my god," Debbie whispered. "Oh my god." Abby looked away with tears in her eyes and covered her nose and mouth.  
  
"Stay outside. Both of you," Carter demanded. "Make sure Gillian is okay."  
  
It was too late. Gillian had already come to the doorway and started crying. Abby gently placed a hand on her arm. Carter started hovering towards the bodies, realizing that one of the corpses was Patrique, a man who accompanied Luka.  
  
Gillian cried out and clung to Abby as they continued through the morgue. Debbie looked on stiffly, biting her lip.  
  
Carter moved on, spotting another corpse a few feet away. Instantly he assumed it was Luka and moved the body around so he could see its face. But it wasn't Luka. Silently, he breathed a sigh of relief. "It isn't him!"  
  
Gillian stopped crying automatically and blinked at Carter. Abby and Debbie both paused again with looks of shock on their faces.  
  
"Ask him!" Carter motioned for Gillian to ask the soldier that had accompanied him in. "Was he there when these men were killed?"  
  
Gillian started talking to the soldier in rapid French once again. The soldier grabbed Luka's Alliance ID badge out of Carter's hand and started nodding, talking quite fluently back to Gillian. Abby came around towards Carter and clung onto his arm, resting her head against his shoulder.  
  
"He says he's a priest. Luka was the priest, he says," Gillian told them frantically.  
  
Carter kissed Abby's temple roughly and pulled her into his chest. "Ask him where. Where can we find him?"

* * *

Reviews will be wonderful, because there will be much Carby coming up in the next chapters. =] 


	6. Search & Rescue

Thanks for those reviews! I just wanted to let you all know that I'll be doing a major 'thank you' list in the following chapter.

As for the rest of this story, it will be following the events of Season 10 almost **exactly**, with a few minor changes here and there. Of course, this means no Kem, and no Carter returning to Africa anytime soon. From here on out will be my take on what would have happened after Abby had followed Carter to Africa and back. Although some scenes in these first chapters were repetitive, they were necessary so I could rewrite the outcome of Season 10.

Enjoy, and don't forget to review!

* * *

_May 25th, 2003_

_6 PM_

"He says to keep following him, this way," Gillian shouted over her shoulder back to Carter, Abby, and Debbie. The soldier from Kasese had accompanied their small group to another nearby town, which was in just as bad shape as Kasese had been. Apparently this man knew where he was going, and after parking the truck only minutes before, the four had followed him quickly down the path towards the smoking town.

Pausing outside a whitewashed building, Carter stopped and tried to make sense of the soldier's directions. He pulled Abby along by the hand once he entered the building with Debbie and Gillian. They quickly passed a woman and her amputee child, only to find the solider pointing at a huddled mass in the corner, near a window. The body was covered by a blanket, and it was slumped in such a way that the face could not automatically be made out.

"Le _prêtre," _the soldier spoke urgently.

Gillian watched as Carter moved towards the body and squeezed her eyes shut. "He says it's the priest," she whispered. She leaned back up against Abby, who wrapped an arm around Gillian's shoulder.

"It'll be okay," Abby told her soothingly. She watched with bated breath as Carter rolled over the body. _It was Luka. He was alive. Barely, but alive._ Abby could see the slow rise and fall of his chest and Gillian cry out in shock.

"He's okay!" Carter called out over his shoulder while checking Luka's pulse and vital signs. Gillian crouched over Luka and moved his sweat-slicked hair off of his forehead while Abby hovered near Luka's feet.

"I'll drive the truck over," Debbie offered. "We're not out of the woods yet."

Carter smiled at Abby, who had now crossed her arms over her chest and was surveying the scene between Luka and Gillian. "You all right?"

She nodded. "You did a good thing, John. Coming out here and rescuing him. At first I didn't understand why you were taking off again, but I guess it took me actually coming out here with you and experiencing everything firsthand to really get it. And now I do. I'm proud of you, Carter."

"Thanks," he grinned, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. "You were a pretty good trooper yourself, you know that?"

"Yeah," Abby laughed. "Right." She leaned her head back against his chest and lifted her chin in such a way that their lips brushed together softly. "We have a lot to talk about."

"I guess you can say we'll make good use out of the plane ride home," Carter smirked, dropping his arms and once again appearing at Luka's side. "Can you hear me, Luka?"

"Mmhmm," Luka croaked. "Abby?"

"Yeah?" Abby answered, kneeling down and crouching over Luka.

"What…are you…doing here?"

She shot an amused look at Carter, who simply shrugged his shoulders. "It's a long story. I came with Carter once I heard the news."

But Luka had fallen asleep, and once Debbie arrived back in the building, all four hoisted Luka up and led him towards the flatbed of the truck, resting his head against the various duffel bags. Gillian followed, crouching right next to Luka, almost as if she was afraid to ever let him out of her sight again. Carter helped Abby hop up onto the flatbed and took one final look around at the ruined town before climbing up himself. Lastly, Debbie made sure the mother and her son were situated comfortably before driving everyone back to the base camp.

* * *

_Midnight_

Abby stirred the remainder of the soup left in her bowl, surveying the now empty cafeteria of the base hospital. It had taken them all a good two hours before they had reached the clinic, and everyone was more than thrilled to have gotten back safely with Luka. Things had gotten tense at one point in the ride when Charles had radioed Debbie, stating that there was an outbreak of Mai Mai fighting in between Kasese and Matenda. Luckily, they had made it through unharmed.

_"Hey."_

She yawned tiredly as Carter approached the small table and took a seat across from her. "Hey."

"How's Luka doing?"

"Pretty good. He has a bad case of malaria, but it's treatable, and once he gets back to Chicago I think it's safe to say he'll make a full recovery." He leaned over and looked into her bowl. "What are you eating?"

Abby pushed the bowl towards him with a smirk. "Chicken noodle soup. Angelique made some for me."

Carter smiled and finished off what was left in the bowl within three gulps. "Can you tell I'm starving?"

She shook her head and laughed. "No, I can't." Abby placed her pack of cigarettes on the table and pulled one out, lighting it quickly. She exhaled a long drag. "Don't look at me like that. I'm quitting, I promise."

"The minute we get back to Chicago I'm getting you the patch," Carter told her sternly. "And then that'll be the end of it hopefully."

Abby rolled her eyes. "You talk like you're such a saint yourself."

"Definitely not," he smirked back. "A transport is meeting us at the airport first thing in the morning to take us all back to Chicago."

"Really? It feels like we just got here," she replied sarcastically. She crushed out the rest of the cigarette with a sigh. "I didn't even smoke all of it."

"That's some progress."

She rolled her eyes. "What time is the transport?"

"It'll be there by six thirty, Charles told me. We should be in Paris by noon, and in Chicago early tomorrow morning."

"So…we'll be leaving here in five hours or so?"

"Yup," he nodded. "Better get some sleep then, don't you think?"

Abby stood up from the table and set the bowl in the small kitchen area before returning to Carter's side. "I wonder if I still have a job at County."

"Kerry said she understood why we were coming out here."

"She could have changed her mind."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," he responded as they headed towards their tent. "Just think, this time tomorrow we'll be able to sleep in a real bed."

"Oh, a real bed. Just when I was getting used to the ground," Abby smiled before climbing into the tent after Carter. "I know how to rough it now."

"Then maybe we'll go camping when we go back?"

Abby slipped under the sleeping back, resting her head on Carter's chest. "I said I knew **how** to rough it, not that I was voluntarily willing to rough it anytime soon."

"Oh, my mistake."

"Don't be such a smart ass."

"It's part of my genetic makeup."

* * *

_May 26, 2003 _

_Kisangani_

_6 AM_

Abby stepped out of the backseat of the jeep that had taken her and Carter to Kisangani Airport. Heavy clouds filled the skies, and a few yards in the distance she could make out the transport plane that would be taking them to Paris, and then, **home**. What had seemed like three weeks spent in the Congo searching for Luka and trying to figure out her relationship status with Carter really had only been four and a half days. Four and a half somewhat stressful, crazy days. Even though she and Carter were know longer bashing each other to the point of embarrassment, things weren't certain between them, and Abby was sure the long plane ride home would be quite useful.

Quickly, she slung her only duffel bag over her shoulder and double-checked that her passport hadn't been lost in the shuffle of moving from place to place in the short time she had spent in Africa. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Carter shaking hands with Charles before moving on to do the same with Debbie. At one point he had looked back over towards Abby and given her a half smile, but she looked down and away.

Abby was hoping that this trip to the Congo to rescue Luka would bring her closer to Carter again and fix whatever had gone wrong in their strained relationship. It wasn't, however, until the day before that she had realized she was searching for something that had already been found. Glancing back at Carter, Abby knew that **this** was the person she loved when it counted the most. He was the person she called at the end of a rough shift. He was the person she called when she was ready to divorce herself from her zany family. He was the person Abby used to call her best friend, and to this day, he still was. John Carter, through all his flaws, was meant to love her, as stupid and clichéd as that sounded. And even through all of her own flaws, they fit together in away that couldn't be matched or replaced. That was what this whole trip had opened her eyes to. Abby still loved Carter, and he, in turn, still loved her. Coming here together made Abby realize that they didn't have to get married or force themselves into a long-term commitment to be happy together. They didn't have to run away anymore when their problems got the best of them. With a little bit of luck and the willingness to work things through, they'd make it back on track in no time.

Abby couldn't help but smile at Carter's boyish grin while he shared a few final words with Debbie and Charles. It made him look so young and innocent. He always had this incredible ability to make her laugh, and to see him have that effect on others made her smile as well. Abby saw Carter walking towards her now, and she waved a final time to Charles and Debbie. She had already said her goodbyes.

"Ready to go?" Carter had shoved his hands in his pockets just as the van that was to be carrying Gillian and Luka pulled up.

"Something like that," Abby remarked back. She smiled at Gillian, who had hopped down from the back of the van while Luka was being unloaded on a stretcher. "You better call Kerry."

"I'll call her from Paris," he added, moving closer to Luka. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible," Luka groaned. "Where am I going?"

Abby smiled. "We're going home."

Luka reached for her hand and squeezed it lightly. "Where's that?"

"America," Carter grinned, helping Gillian wheel Luka towards the awaiting transport plane. "This medical transport plane is taking us home to Chicago."

"Expensive," Luka smiled.

Carter shrugged. "I know somebody who knows somebody."

Luka motioned for Carter to lean closer and wrapped one arm around his neck, giving him a good kiss on the cheek. "Thanks." He motioned for Abby next and did the same before Carter and Gillian helped the paramedics lift his stretcher onto the plane.

Abby took one look back at the land surrounding the airport before climbing the stairs onto the plane. Carter had been right about one thing—the country **was** beautiful, but home never had sounded as good to her as it did right now.

* * *

_May 27th, 2003_

_ Chicago _

_5:30 AM_

Abby unlocked her apartment door with a sigh and pushed it open slowly. "Home sweet home."

Their plane from Paris had landed at O'Hare around three in the morning, but once they had sent for an ambulance to take Luka and Gillian to County General, they hadn't ended up leaving the airport until almost quarter to five. Everyone had been dragging on their feet from jet lag. Even Carter had kept mumbling about having a shift at nine until Abby convinced him that no, they had just gotten home, and he didn't have a shift until Thursday at the earliest.

Carter nodded and yawned. "You can say that again. I'm about ready to crash right in the middle of your hallway."

"Sounds like a plan to me. You get the pillows, I'll get the blankets," Abby joked. They tossed their duffels into the living room and turned to each other. Carter started to laugh and wrapped his arms around Abby, pulling her into his chest.

"I'd say we need showers."

"I can deal with your smell if you can deal with mine. I need sleep right now." Abby tossed her hair over her shoulder and flicked the light switch on. Carter spotted the bed automatically and ran over to it, jumping onto it like a four year old on Christmas Day.

"Oh, god," he groaned. "I never thought I'd be this thankful to see a bed in my life."

"Don't fall asleep there," Abby warned. He had sprawled out onto the bed spread-eagled, exactly in the center. "Because I'm not sleeping on the couch." She opened the middle drawer of her dresser and pulled out a tee shirt and cotton sleep shorts. _It felt so good to be home._

Quickly, she brushed her teeth and washed her face, debating whether or not she should take a shower. When a wave of tiredness suddenly hit her, she knew she might as well wait until they woke up **much** later. She definitely planned on taking today and tomorrow off, but knew Weaver would expect her back in work on Thursday. That didn't exactly pose that much of a problem, since all Abby really had to do was her laundry and take care of grocery shopping, other than catching up on some much needed sleep.

"John, are you taking a shower?" Abby yawned and pulled her hair up into a messy bun. Once she re-entered her bedroom, she automatically smiled. Carter had rolled over onto his side on her bed and had fallen asleep, not even bothering to take his shoes off. So instead, she gently untied the laces and slipped off the sneakers, placing them on the ground.

Abby padded over to the wall and turned the lights off, then crawled under the covers of her bed.

"Night Abby," John said, flipping onto his stomach.

"Thought you had fallen asleep?"

Her answer got a simple grunt and she smiled, closing her eyes. "Night Carter."

* * *

_4:30 PM_

Carter heard the loud ringing of Abby's cordless phone and reached his hand over groggily, not bothering to lift his head off the pillow. "Hello?" he croaked, finally opening his eyes. They rested on Abby's digital alarm clock, which now read four-thirty.

_"John, it's Kerry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you and Abby."_

"No, that's all right. We've been asleep for about nine hours anyway. What's up?"

_"I just thought you would want to know that Luka has been moved to a private room."_

"Yeah, thanks. Hey, do I have a shift this week?"

_"I have you down for a seven AM to seven PM shift starting Thursday morning, and Abby has a shift from ten AM to ten PM the same day. Then on Friday you're working from noon to midnight, and Abby is working from nine to nine. You both are clear for the weekend. Get some rest. I'm sure you both have things to catch up on."_

"Thanks Kerry. We appreciate that."

_"Take care, John. Tell Abby I said the same. See you on Thursday."_

"We'll probably stop by to see Luka tonight."

_"Sure, John._"

Carter yawned and tossed the phone onto the floor, too tired to even reach over to place it back on its cradle. Abby was still asleep, her body curled up into the fetal position with the blankets tucked under her chin. Carefully, he brushed a piece of hair out of her face and smiled. He didn't feel like getting up at the moment, so instead he rested his head back against the pillow and watched her sleep. About five short minutes later, he felt his own eyelids start to droop once again and kissed Abby's forehead softly.

Abby could sleep through anything and never stir.

* * *

Review?


	7. On the Mend

Thank you all so so so much for the reviews! They mean everything to me. Without them, I probably wouldn't have the motivation to continue this story, so keep them coming. =]

* * *

_Friday  
  
June 21, 2003_  
  
Three and a half weeks had gone by since Carter and Abby had returned from the Congo with Luka. Things had reached a level of normalcy with their return to County. Luka was expected back to work at the beginning of July, and Carter had picked up a few back to back twelve hour shifts throughout the month to keep himself busy, or more importantly, to keep his mind off of his grandmother's estate and Abby. He had finally taken care of the lawyer, not wanting to put if off any longer or put up with Frank constantly complaining about taking the phone calls. Carter had returned to the mansion and was living there by himself, even though he had taken to staying at Abby's before his first trip to the Congo. Their relationship had changed, and he didn't think it would be a good move to live with Abby again, at least not right away.  
  
Abby had been sucked right back into her duties as Nurse Manager, and her latest task included showing a round of new residents around the hospital. Sofun, Morris, and Cooper were a little overly eager to get started, and she had been annoyed with all three of them, especially Morris, from the start. She had also gotten to know Neela, a new medical student, although she too tended to get on her last nerve sometimes, especially in traumas. The nursing schedule was disorganized, as per usual, and unfortunately there was not much Abby could do about it. She couldn't please everyone.  
  
Glancing up at the clock, Abby noted that her shift was finally over for the day. It was three in the afternoon, and she had been on since five in the morning. Exhausted didn't even describe how tired she was right now, and she was automatically glad that she was free until Monday morning. All she really had to do was go grocery shopping and fold her laundry, and then she could probably go to bed early. She thought about calling Carter briefly to see if he had any plans, but considering she hadn't talked to him for a few days, Abby didn't want to bother him. He was probably just as busy and tired as she was.  
  
Within twenty minutes, Abby had gotten off the El and arrived back at her apartment. It was sweltering inside, which only meant one thing—the building's central air conditioning was malfunctioning for the second time that month. Quickly, Abby dropped her bag on the couch and ran to check the thermostat, which was stable at eighty-four degrees. The forecast called for a heat wave to last until the early part of next week, and highs were supposed to reach the early to mid nineties. The temperature today had been eighty-five with high humidity. Abby only had one ceiling fan, and that was in the living room.  
  
"Perfect," she muttered to herself, turning on the television to hopefully catch the latest updates on the weather report. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and stripped off her scrub top, just leaving herself in a black tank top and scrub pants. Abby switched on the ceiling fan to high and opened the two living room windows as high as they could go. Hopefully she could get a little bit of circulation in the room, just so it wasn't so stuffy.  
  
She then opened every window in the entire apartment, even the bathroom window that had a habit of sticking when it was hot out. Entering the bathroom, Abby splashed some cool water onto her sweaty face when the doorbell rang.  
  
"Coming!" she shouted, grabbing the hand towel and patting her face with it as she ran down the hall. She unlatched the door, only to come face to face with Carter himself. He was dressed casually, in khaki pants and a polo, and had a pair of sunglasses in his hand. "Hey."  
  
"Hey," he greeted her, taking in her appearance. "Did you just get off?"  
  
Abby nodded and stepped aside, letting him walk into the hall. "Yeah. I just got home about ten minutes ago."  
  
"Why are all your windows open? It's in the mid eighties." Carter glanced around, noting how warm her apartment was. He knew from living with Abby that she was unbearable to be around in the heat, because it irritated her allergies and made it hard for her to breathe if she didn't have the air conditioning running in the summertime.  
  
"Oh, apparently the building's air conditioning broke when I was at work. I haven't even gotten a chance to call the landlord yet and see what's up."  
  
"Stay at my place for the weekend," Carter suggested. "There's more than enough room."  
  
Abby eyed him cautiously and shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks. I have enough stuff to take care of around here anyway."  
  
"Oh." He shoved his hands in his pockets and sighed. "I came by to see if you wanted to get something to eat tonight? I haven't really talked to you lately, so I figured we could catch up if you wanted to. Maybe go to that sushi place you've wanted to check out since..." Carter quickly caught himself. He had almost mentioned about wanting to have dinner at that place since before he ran off to Africa for the first time. "...since it opened in March."  
  
Abby hadn't seemed to notice his mistake, but nodded. "Sure." She picked up a pillow from the floor and tossed it back onto the couch, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Is this a date or something?"  
  
Carter smirked. "Do you want it to be?"  
  
She turned off the television and said nothing at first. "I don't know. I guess a date would be sort of...nice?"  
  
"Then we'll make it one."  
  
Abby eyed Carter's clothes and then realized what she was still wearing. "Did you mean right now?"  
  
"No. I just came from a meeting with my dad. We're trying to figure out what we're going to do with the mansion."  
  
Abby walked into her bedroom and Carter followed. It brought back many memories, both good and bad. It was here that they would wake up in the mornings together, where they ended their night, and where they had gotten into the worst arguments of their relationship. "You're going to sell it?"  
  
"Everything's up in the air right now, but yea, that's one of the options we're looking at. Gamma left it in my name, so I have the last deciding word," Carter explained. "It's hard to let it go. I grew up there."  
  
Abby gave him a reassuring smile and started going through her closet. "You'll be okay."  
  
"Yeah." Carter cleared his throat. "So, I'll pick you up around seven?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Before leaving, Carter turned around and leaned up against up the doorframe. "The offer still stands about staying at my place for the weekend."  
  
"I'll think about it."

* * *

As promised, Carter had picked up Abby around seven, and they had arrived at the sushi bar for there seven thirty reservations. They had gotten settled at the table, and Carter had requested a bottle of wine while they waited on their sushi rolls.  
  
"You look great tonight," Cater complimented her as her poured the wine into their glasses.  
  
Abby blushed slightly under the dim lights and took a sip out of the glass. "Thanks." The temperature had dropped to the low seventies by the time Carter had picked her up, so she had settled on an off the shoulder black v- neck shirt and tan pants, which she paired with her favorite stiletto heels that she rarely wore. She had straightened her hair and left it down, partly because it was easier to handle that way, but also because in the back of her mind she knew Carter loved it that way.  
  
"So...how have you been?"  
  
"Okay. Busy. I haven't really been home much lately."  
  
Carter nodded. "I know the feeling. I'm trying to get another place for myself, another apartment, maybe—since I moved out of my last one. I don't really want to live in the mansion anymore. If Gamma were still alive I'd have no problem to, but now I feel out of place. I never really realized how much more empty space there is now."  
  
"I'm sorry." It was silent between them for a moment or so, and then Abby glanced up at him. "I think I should apologize to you about the situation with my brother. I never meant to hurt you, John. I'm not going to make up any excuses anymore—I could have handled everything with my brother better and been there for you, too. You needed me and I pretty much brushed you aside to make sure my brother was okay and help him handle his disease. And at the funeral—god, that was never supposed to happen and it was so embarrassing. But I want you to understand that Eric couldn't help himself. He was off his meds and didn't want to have anything to do with my help. I think in the long run that's what hurt me the most—the fact that I tried to do everything I could for Eric and he clung to Maggie instead, and now there's just me, who's pretty much isolated from them because I'm not bipolar and 'wouldn't understand' what they're going through. I'm sorry."  
  
Carter listened and reached his hand over the table, resting it in Abby's. "Hey, that wasn't your fault. I never blamed you. You did what you thought you had to do, and it was a tough decision. You're a good person, Abby. You did help your brother. Don't think that because he ran to Maggie means that he doesn't care about you and how you tried to help him. I'm not mad at you for what happened. I never was. I was just frustrated. Everything was on me then and I didn't know what to do, so I took the easy way out from everyone and ran off to Africa."  
  
Abby watched as the waiter set the sushi rolls onto the table. "Yeah."  
  
He picked up his chopsticks and dipped the sushi roll into the soy sauce. "I miss you."  
  
She glanced down and finished chewing the sushi. "I miss you too. I thought things would be easier when we came back from Africa."  
  
"They can be. We just have to let everything fall into place. Like this. I haven't been on a date with you since...since that night at the restaurant."  
  
Thinking back to that night reminded Abby of his failed proposal. "I don't think we were ready for a commitment then."  
  
Carter shook his head. "Neither do I." He took another sip of the wine. "But are we ready now?"  
  
Abby didn't know why she was holding herself back any more. She wanted everything that they had once before back. She wanted to wake up next to Carter in the mornings and make love with him at night. She wanted to be able to kiss him at the hospital when they passed each other in the hall. She wanted to work beside him in traumas and know that in a few hours they'd be able to go home together and spend the rest of the day or night with each other. She wanted to be sitting at admit and look across the room, only to find Carter staring right back at her with a smile. But most importantly, Abby wanted that second chance to make things right. They had agreed not to take the easy way out anymore. "I'm ready."  
  
He grinned at her from across the table. "Me too."  
  
By eight thirty, they had finished their sushi and Carter had taken care of the bill. Once they had gotten into the jeep, Carter rolled down the windows and turned the stereo up. He pulled sped out of the parking spot and onto the street, heading for the parkway.  
  
Abby laughed, turning up the volume on the stereo. "I can't believe you have Styx in here. And you were making fun of me for listening to it!"  
  
"Hey, I figured I'd get on your good side!" He yelled back. He pulled onto the entrance ramp for the parkway, and as they drove along, with the wind blowing through the jeep, Abby decided to start singing along as Styx's 'Renegade' came on.  
  
Carter glanced over and smiled, watching her. He loved how the wind blew through her hair as she sang, moving her head from side to side with the beat. Abby looked over and gave him a smile before running her fingers through her hair.  
  
God, she was beautiful.

* * *

By nine, Carter had pulled into the driveway of Gamma's mansion and he and Abby were heading up the path towards the front door.  
  
"Did you have a good time tonight?"  
  
Abby nodded and smiled, wrapping her arms around herself. It had gotten chilly out, and the wind had slightly picked up. "Yeah, I did. Did you?"  
  
He nodded and unlocked the door of the mansion. "We haven't done that in awhile. It's still early. We could watch a movie. Did you want to stay here tonight?"  
  
"I guess it's better than sleeping in my apartment right now," Abby smirked. She followed Carter up the large, intimidating stairs of the mansion to his room. He turned on the lights and started digging around in his drawers, finally pulling out a pair of sweatpants and tee shirt for her to sleep in.  
  
"It's gets pretty cold sometimes with the air on."  
  
"Yeah, I remember," Abby told him. She started looking around in his DVD collection on the side of his dresser. The rest of the movies were downstairs in the theater, but it didn't appear that either one wanted to go all the way back downstairs if they just had to come back up to go to sleep anyway. "What about the 'Godfather'?"  
  
Carter nodded and took off his shoes. He got up and took the DVD from her and placed it in the player attached to his television. "Sure. Haven't seen it in awhile anyway."  
  
"I don't think I've ever seen all of it."  
  
He stretched out on his bed and turned out the light, motioning for Abby to do the same. She kicked off her shoes and curled onto her side, not against him, but not too far away from him either. They stayed like that for the first twenty minutes of the movie. Abby hadn't even realized that she was practically resting her head on Carter's chest and he was running his fingers through her hair by then.  
  
Carter looked over and smiled. "You okay?"  
  
She nodded. "Yea." Abby noticed how close their lips were then, and without much hesitation, she tilted her chin up and kissed him softly. It had started out as just a peck on the lips, but when Carter returned the kiss, it started to turn into a heavy make out session. The movie had long been forgotten about in the background as Abby wrapped her arms around Carter's neck and he rested himself on top of her, his hand slowly inching up the back of her shirt.  
  
Abby had unbuttoned half of Carter's shirt and he practically had her pants off before he pulled away.  
  
"Are you sure?" he whispered in her ear.  
  
She nodded and kissed him again, waiting patiently as he reached over and got the condoms out of the drawer. Abby didn't know where this was going to take them. They hadn't had sex since a few weeks before he left for Africa, and she had even stopped taking her birth control in early April because it was making her hormones crazy, along with everything else that had been going on in her life at that time.  
  
Whatever happened between them was a big step, but it was something that they both wanted to happen—have wanted to happen since the Congo. Abby was tired of hesitating and always shutting Carter out, and there was no better night than tonight to start.

* * *


	8. Gone

A/N: Sorry for the wait for this chapter, but I hope you guys are still with me. I know it's kind of short, but I'll make up for that with the next chapter. Thanks for those reviews!

* * *

Abby awoke the following morning to the pitter-patter of raindrops falling heavily on the roof of the Carter mansion. Blinking slightly, she felt a small amount of pressure on her lower back and realized somewhere in her half-awake state that Carter had tightened his grip around her lower body with a comfortable sigh. She smiled and stretched out onto her back, just listening to the rain while John stirred next to her.

The night before had been unexpected, to say the least. What had started out as a simple date had led to the bedroom sooner than Abby would have liked. She didn't know if they were making up for lost time or 'jumping the gun' altogether. No matter how much thought Abby could put into everything, she and Carter did have sex last night—several times. Three times, and she had enjoyed it. Apparently so had Carter, judging from his near comatose state right now.

A sudden chill ran down her spine and caused her to shiver. The alarm clock read off eight-thirty, and Abby clutched the tangled sheets closer around her naked body. Listening to the rain was starting to get boring.

"Good morning," Carter mumbled with a yawn, rolling over onto his side to face her. He kissed her gently, brushing a strand of hair off her forehead. "How are you?"

She rested her head against his collarbone and intertwined her fingers with his. "Sore."

He laughed and ran his free hand through his hair. "Last night…"

"Was a little—"

"Unexpected?"

Abby nodded. "Yeah."

He sighed. "I'm sorry."

She glanced at him curiously. "For what? You were fine last night."

"I know you didn't want this to happen like it did. We agreed on taking things slowly, and apparently that didn't happen."

"Meaning our libidos got the best of us," she snorted. "Which seems to happen a lot when we're together. At least last time it did."

"I know."

Abby sat up and pulled her hair up loosely, the sheets slipping down slightly, revealing more of her cleavage. "I don't regret it at all, if that's what you're thinking."

"Neither do I. It's just…where the hell do we go from here? We've been jumping all over the place since we got back from the Congo."

"Dating is nice," she suggested. "We could do some more of that. You know, when we're not busy."

"We'll make time," Carter answered. "Don't worry."

"I know that. We've tried picking up the pieces and I guess last night, we pretty much cemented them back together. We're adults, and I'm tired of tiptoeing around the issue of us being together or not being together. We need to make a choice and stick to it. Call it, whatever."

"Time of death, eighty-thirty-four," he smirked, kissing her once again. She reciprocated and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Let's start over. I really want this, Abby. I want the second chance to make things better than they were the first time around. I want to be with you, and…I hope you feel the same."

"With a night like last night, who wouldn't feel the same?" Abby cracked as Carter tickled her sides. "Cut that out!"

"What, not up for another round of playing doctor and nurse?" he whispered huskily in her ear.

"I want a shower."

"Rain check?"

Abby groaned and pointed to the window. "Literally."

"It's supposed to downpour all day today," Carter groaned. He sat up and pulled his shirt from the night before over his head and pulled on his boxers while Abby quickly pulled on the sweatpants and tee shirt he had laid out for her. "We'll get a handful of MVAs."

"Lucky us. What time does your shift start?"

He stretched his arms over his head with another yawn. "Eleven. Yours?"

"Noon. I better call the landlord and see if they fixed the air conditioning yet."

"You're always welcome here," Carter remarked, picking up his watch from the nightstand.

"I know," she smiled. "But I'm not paying rent for an apartment that's not going to cooperate in the middle of summer."

* * *

"So you guys slept together last night? I knew it!"

Abby picked at her salad, glancing at Susan from across the lounge table. "How'd you know? Oh god, he didn't tell you did he?"

Susan laughed. "No. I've known Carter since he was a med student. He had that look, that morning after 'I just got laid and I'm damn proud of it' look on his face."

Abby cracked a smile as she sipped her ice tea. "Okay."

"So, come on, how was it?"

"It was…" she blushed slightly. "It was better than I can remember it ever being."

"God, you two are terrible," Susan teased her. "You're only meant to be together but somehow make your relationship more complicated than it has to be."

"What can I say? We're both stubborn," Abby chided her. "But at least I'm not screwing my ex husband on the side."

"Okay, you've got me there."

Susan casually played with a piece of her blonde hair. "Luka's coming back to work next week."

"Really? Did Gillian leave?"

"That Canadian girl? I'm not sure. I think so. She went home, or something."

Abby smirked. "I never really pictured Luka as the long distance relationship type."

Susan let out another laugh as she stood up out of the chair. "Just the one night stand type."

"That's horrible," she giggled. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

"Abby, you know I love Luka. He's tall, dark, and handsome. What more could a girl want, really?" Susan teased. "But I also know how he is."

Chuny popped her head into the lounge and smiled at Abby and Susan. "Dr. Lewis, we need you in exam one."

"Duty calls," Susan winked. "Call me. Let me know how the whole 'morning-after' thing went with you and Carter."

"I will," Abby grinned. She made her way over to her locker and opened it quickly, shoving her now empty lunch container into it. She busied herself with adjusting her hair, but jumped slightly when she felt a hand on the small of her back.

Thankfully, it was only Carter. "Hey," he greeted, kissing her on cheek gently.

"Jesus," Abby muttered. "Don't do that."

"Sorry," he apologized tactfully. "We've got a triple MVA coming in."

"A triple? How bad is it?"

"Two major, one minor," Carter answered. "What did I tell you about this rain?"

Abby smiled and crossed her arms over her chest. "What time are you off?"

"In two hours, yourself?"

"Three," she answered with a yawn. "Meet me at my place? I feel like lounging around in bed all night eating takeout and watching movies."

Carter smirked and kissed her forehead gently. "Sounds good to me."

"They finally fixed the air conditioning," she added. "But now it'll probably be freezing instead of stifling."

"Either way, you can't win." He tossed her a gown, pulling his own on.

The lounge door swung open and Frank poked his head in. "I shouldn't have to track you people down, for cryin' out loud. Abby, you've got a phone call on line two. Weaver said to make it snappy because you've got that quadruple MVA coming in."

"Triple," Carter corrected him.

"No, quadruple. Who works at the front desk, smart ass?" Frank sassed.

"Shut up, Frank," Abby warned. She followed the older man out into the hall, Carter lagging at her side. Picking up the phone, she turned around and raised her eyebrows. "Who is it?"

"I'm not your secretary."

"Fine," she grumbled. Carter leaned against the counter and gave her a reassuring smile. "Hello?"

_"Abby? Oh God Abby, is that you? I couldn't reach you at home, I, I…Abby, oh honey…"_

Abby gripped the phone cord in between her fingers. "Mom? Calm down, what's wrong?"

_She heard Maggie's muffled sobs on the other end of the line. "Abby, they tried everything. It didn't work. Nothing worked!"_

"What didn't work? What happened?"

A concerned expression crossed Carter's face as he watched Abby carry out the mysterious conversation with her mother.

_"He's dead, Abby. Eric's dead."_

* * *


End file.
